Boarding School
by juliabeans5
Summary: When his cousin ships Alex off to boarding school, he tries to keep it together. But between a whole new state, a roommate and a really weird group of friends, it gets harder and harder.
1. The Bus Ride

Laying down on his bed, Alex held his hands to his face, his bruised cheek. He faced the plain wall in his bedroom. His cousin. He wasn't in shock that James had just hit him, it was quite normal, actually. It still hurt. He thought to himself, "it's not his fault I get hit. I deserve it."

Alex had few, if any friends at his high school. He sat alone at lunch and all he did after school was study. He didn't like the kids at school. They were mean. They were hurtful, emotionally and physically.

"Alex!" James shouted from the bottom of the stairs, "come here!"

Alex did as he was told in fear of punishment. He walked down the stairs where he saw James sitting at the kitchen table. "Have a sit. I need to talk to you." Alex could feel his face where James had just punched him throbbing. Alex swallowed hard and sat at the table across from James.

"Alex, good news." Good news? Alex became scared now, his eyes grew big. There was no such thing a good news in this house. "I've saved enough money for you to go to boarding school. Finally I can get you disgraceful ass out of my house." Alex froze, staring James in the eyes. All he could let out was a small, "okay."

"Go pack your things, you're taking the public bus."

"How am I going to fit all my things in the bus?"

"Excuse me," James stood up from his chair and then pushed it in, "I don't remember asking you to respond with an attitude." He walked towards him. Alex started sweating. He didn't dare look him in the eyes. He looked forward as if nothing had happened, as if he could just ignored what was about to happen. But he can't ignore punches to the face. James took a big swing into Alex's jaw, making his mouth bleed. "Awe man Alex you got blood on my clothes. You keep messing up and I'll have to buy some punching rings to wear. Maybe that'll get you to shut up." Alex was holding his hand to his mouth. And still didn't say anything.

"Why are you still here? I told you to get packed a minute ago!" Alex stood up, still not saying anything and tiptoed up the stairs into his room. He wasn't sure if he should be happy about leaving. He had a good thing with his grades here. What if he had to share a room with someone that was even worse than James? He sat on his bed, bent down and picked up his little trash can. He started spitting in it to try and get the blood out of his mouth. He gave up after 5 minutes with it not helping.

It was 11:30 on a Friday night. Alex pulled out a backpack, a duffle bag and a pack the little amount of clothes into the duffle bag. He packed his pillows, blankets and linens into the suitcase. He also put his towel and a toothbrush and his hairbrush into it. He put school supplies and other knickknacks such as cards and his diary. He looked at his room to see an empty mattress on the wall with the head of the bed under a window, a desk across from that and his dresser facing the window on the opposite wall.

He was nervous. And although he didn't want to admit it, he was freaking out. He curled up in his bed. He squeezed his eyes closed and covered his ears with his hands, trying to block out negative feelings, with nothing but his own thoughts to listen to.

He woke up bright and early. 5:00 in the morning, Alex woke up without trying to early every morning, he rarely got sleep. He was surprised that he got any sleep at all this night. He rolled off of his empty bed and dragged his things down stairs to the front door.

James was waiting for him at the door with a bus ticket.

"Here." James threw the ticket at Alex, but it gently floated to the ground. "You don't even know is to catch something correctly." Alex crouched down to pick up the piece of paper. As he crouched close to the ground, James walked passed him, kicking him in the stomach before completely passing him. Alex fell onto his butt, then went back to pick up the paper. "Now that I think of it, THAT'S why your father left you. He must've been embarrassed to be related to you, I know I am." James chuckled to himself then sat himself onto the couch. Alex bit his lip in order to keep himself from saying something that would get him in trouble, but James continued to push Alex to a breaking point. "Yeah. A tiny, weak, lonely little boy isn't quite the most ideal son you'd want to have. Your father was right to leave, and your mom was right to die."

James smiled but Alex bolted up and ran to James, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up, Alex shouted in his face, "Ill let you talk shit about me and I'll take it. I'll let you talk about my father who at least TRIED to be a nice person, unlike you. But don't you fucking dare bring my mother into this! She was an amazing person who accomplished things in life and was born for a reason, and not just to be a burden to society!" Alex, realizing what he had just done, let go of James collar. He took a step back and began to be very interested in his shoelaces.

James pretended to act confused, "hmm. I don't remember asking you to speak to me. Not only that but you decide to lay your hands on me?" James took step after step closer to Alex until he was a foot away for the living room wall. "Come on Alex, you're better than this." Quickly right after that, James punched Alex in the gut. Alex fell back up against the wall. Alex still attempted to keep standing but his was leaning up against the wall. He closed his eyes shut and held his hands on his stomach. James raised his hand high in the air and brought it down hard onto the left side of Alex's face. Alex slide down the wall and sat there silently.

"You know what?" James started, "I'm going to miss this. This is fun." James kicked Alex in the side. "You make me laugh, Alex." James walked away but not before spitting on Alex's hair. "You should start walking to the bus stop."

James walked back upstairs. Alex sat curled up up against the wall. He slowly regained his strength and stood up. He pulled up his shirt to see a bruise already forming. He could feel his cheek throbbing already and starting to heat up.

Without saying goodbye, Alex grabbed his bags and walked out of the house. He checked to make sure that the bus ticket was still in in pocket. Though crumpled a bit, the ticket was still there.

Alex had the backpack on one shoulder, the duffle bag wrapped around the other and was dragging the the suitcase behind him. He was in a rush to get to the bus, he feared as though he was going to miss the bus. Then what would he say to James? Alex started running. no one was out on the streets. It was too early for people to be awake. The sun wasn't even up yet, it was THE middle of November, so you can imagine that it was pretty cold in New York City.

¨do you need any help?"Alex heard a voice from behind him calling out to him.

Alex panting said trying to sound polite, ¨No i'm good! Thanks!" It kinda of surprised him that someone was awake, and trying to help him.

¨You sure?¨

BY now Alex was turning around to see who it was, but was still trying to walk backwards to get to the bus stop.

"Where are you heading to?" It was a boy, around the same age as Alex. He had a gruff low voice and dark skin.

"Ummm i'm going to the bus stop I need to catch a bus that's supposed be here in 10 minutes!" Alex turned around to start running but the person stopped him again, "no kidding!?"

"No- kidding-? Yeah man I really have to go thanks though!" Alex tried to say quickly.

"I'll come with you! I going to the bus stop too!" The person had a brown backpack slumped over his left shoulder. He caught up to Alex how has speed walking. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you going? I'm going to Yorktown for school."

"Uhh- yeah I'm going to school too." Alex was too focused on getting to the stop.

The person didn't say anything after that. He kind of understood that this boy needed to be somewhere and that he was stressed out as it was and he didn't really need to try and hold a conversation with a stranger.

After a few minutes of walk running, the person finally spoke up, "here," he pulled the duffle bag off of Alex's shoulder and put it on his own. "We can probably run faster now, the weight is leveled out." The Person chuckled and started running faster, not even looking out of breath. Alex followed, he wanted to shout out, "I HAVE RATHER SHORT LEGS!" And that would be an excuse to not make it to his bus stop. But I stress, alex took a big short sigh and ran faster, trying to keep up to the person. Alex was falling behind the other person.

"You're gonna have to run faster than that if you want to make the bus!" The Person person said mockingly.

"UGH! I'm trying!" Alex stopped running to catch his breath.

"Hey man," the person stopped running, and turned around to see Alex panting a few feet away. "We don't REALLY have to run. We aren't that far from the stop and the bus is usually late."

"Why… would.. you… do… that.. TO ME?!" Alex managed to get out.

"Do you not like running?"

"Why would I? Do you see me man? I'm a shrimp, not built for athletics."

"Sorry."

They stood silent until the person finally said, "we should get going," the person walked to Alex and patted him on the back, "we are almost there."

"Okay." Alex said quietly.

They headed off walking. "My names Hercules. Hercules Mulligan."

"Alexander Hamilton." Alex stuck out his hand to be shaken.

"Well what do your friends call ya? I'm your friend right?"

"Yeah- friends. Well, since you're the first, you can just call me Alex."

"Nice to meet you Alex." Hercules let go off his hand.

It was until now that Hercules actually saw Alex's face. Bruises covered almost l of the left side of his face. "Woooooaaahhhh, what happened to your face?" Hercules asked.

Alex had almost forgotten what had happened this morning. He became stiff. "I uh, tripped in my room and I hit the bed. I'm clumsy, sorry."

Hercules wanted to believe him, he really did but there was something in his voice, his hesitation that made him suspicious, "oh that looks like it hurt." Hercules chuckled nervously.

"Yeah." Alex said shallowly. He began to walk at a faster pace, as if to escape the topic.

"Finally. We're here." Hercules took in a big deep breath. No one else was at the bus stop. Why would they? No one is going from New York city to Yorktown in the middle of November.

"Good." Alex set down his backpack and sat at the bench that was available for him. "Wait- are YOU going to Yorktown for school."

"Yeah! I'm going to Boarding school! It's pretty fun. You're going there, too?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why are you coming in the middle of the school year? And you're leaving your family right before Thanksgiving and Christmas?"

"Umm yeah my 'family' just got the money to send me away. And I haven't celebrated the holidays in a while."

"By a while, you mean last year?" Hercules took a seat next to him.

He hesitated a little bit and then, Alex finally said a quiet, "Yes." it was silent until Alex broke the silence, "Why are you going to school in the middle of the school year?"

"Oh," Hercules smiled, "I came here to visit my folks before it snowed so much that buses were closed."

"That makes sense." That sounded nice to Alex, having a family that you love so much that you'd actually come home early to make sure that you would be able to see them.

Cold wind blew and Alex shivered. "The bus should be here soon, so it won't be that cold. And best thing is, we are gonna be one of the only people on the bus. Who comes from New York City to Yorktown in the middle of November?"

"Yeah, that's good."

"Usually it's really boring because I'm by myself, but now that i have you, it'll be fun!"

"Ha, sounds 'fun'."

The bus pulled up. The two boys stepped on and handed the driver their tickets. The chose to sit in the very back of the bus, using the two seats across the aisle for a storage area. Alex wasn't really planning on sitting RIGHT NEXT TO Hercules, which he had just met, but Hercules was. Hercules took a seat right next to Alex and said, "Get ready for a fun 9 hours! If you need to use the bathroom, just ask the bus driver, he'll stop for you." Hercules gave Alex a big smile.

Alex focused straight ahead him. It was 6;30 after all so you can understand that he'd be tired. Alex was surprised by this. Although usually always tired but not able to get enough sleep, Alex never closed his eyes or took a nap.

"Hey man, you can take a nap, I won't judge." Hercules was reaching into his bag for something. He pulled out a small pillow and a light blanket. "Use these. I always come prepared."

"Are you sure?" Alex hesitated to reach up and grab the pillow and blanket.

"Yeah, of course, man!"

"Thanks." Alex leaned the pillow up against the window and gently placed the blanket on his lap. He leaned his head up against the pillow and closed his eyes.

Screaming, Alex bolted awake, quickly lifting his head off of Hercules shoulder. Alex was out of breath. Hercules stared at him, with confusion. Alex ran his hands through his hair and attempted to relax by breathing deeply.

"Are you okay…?" Hercules carefully placed his hand on Alex's back. Alex flinched but then relaxed. "Is-is that normal?"

Alex slowly nodded his head and closed his eyes.

"Do you need to talk about it?"

Alex didn't say anything, but continued to breathe in and out. He finally shook his head and gave a little smile, "I'm okay, thank you."

"How often does that happen?"

"Every time I fall asleep."

"That happens every night?"

"I don't sleep."

"Oh."

They didn't say anything for a couple of hours, which was the most awkward couple of hours of Hercules' life. He didn't want to say something that would make Alex uncomfortable. Alex leaned his head up against the window and stared at the almost empty highway.

"So what's your family like, Alexander?"

He was never asked that. Should he be embarrassed of what has happened? Should he lie about James and tell him that he is a perfectly fine cousin that DIDN'T give scars all over his body?

"That's kinda hard to explain…"

"How do you figure…?"

"I don't-I don't know how to say it without sounding like a failure."

"What? What your family is like would make you a failure? That doesn't make any sense."

They sat silently.

"Hey man, you don't have to tell me, I'm just really bad at small talk. It's not really my business, anyways." Hercules smiled nervously.

"No I'll tell you. It's important that I tell you. But you can't tell anyone else."

"I won't."

Alex sighed and started shaking.

"Dude. You don't have to tell me."

"It's just- I don't have a family. I mean I do- I have my cousin but he-" alex stopped himself and his eyes started to fill with tears. Hercules was in shock.

"Dude, calm down. I'm not going to think any less of you."

Alex focused on the seat in front of him.

Hercules started again, "But if it's really important that you tell someone and get this off you chest then go ahead."

There was a pause.

"I didn't trip in my room." Alex said quickly, still focusing on the seat ahead of him. He started to sweat.

"Huh..?" Hercules said politely.

"My cousin hit me. And kicked me. And slapped me."

Another pause.

"Is that what the bruise on you face is?"

He nodded slightly.

"Oh…"

Another pause.

"So, where's your parents..?"

A tear rolled down Alex's cheek.

Another pause.

"They-" Alex stuttered, "They aren't around anymore."

Hercules didn't want to push, but he was curious and interested.

"What happened to them?" He asked.

Alex swallowed. Another pause.

"My dad left me and my mother when I was 10 and we still lived in the Caribbean. Around 2 years ago, my mother was diagnosed with cance. She didn't survive."

Alex put his hand to his mouth, as if he had said too much. Tears rolled down his face but he didn't make a sound.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Hercules put his hand and rubbed the space in between Alex's shoulder blades.

Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out.

"And you've been living with your cousin."

He nodded his head.

"And, this cousin of yours, is abusive to you..?"

Another pause. Alex took his hand off of his mouth, opened his eyes and looked at Hercules. Hercules didn't know what to do, his eyes just grew.

Hercules tried to defuse the tension.

"WELL it's a good thing you're coming to this school then and we got you outta that house, right!?" He laughed nervously.

Alex relaxed and put on a small, soft, smile. "Yeah," He spoke up, "I guess it is…"

"You're gonna love it!" Hercules closed his eyes as if imagining the scene in front of him, "great clubs to join, lit teachers," at this time he held his hand to his mouth, pretending that he didn't wan anyone to hear him, "and the ladies aren't too bad either." He laughed at his own joke and Alex rolled his eyes, but smiled, too.

"I'm serious," Hercules started again, "you'll like it. And it's good we got you outta there!i have two best friends, john Laurens and marquis de Lafayette. Johns THE most caring person I've ever met. And laf, he's.. -he's and bit of a goof."

"How so..?"

"Well, Lafayette is a french name. He moved to America recently. He has a heavy French accent and still isn't sure how when meeting someone in America, you DON'T kiss them on the cheeks." Hercules laughed just thinking about it. "One time, in Math class, laf got his schedule changed so he was new in the class. Without knowing, he sat in this guy's 'seat' and that guy was not happy. The guy was like 'hey yo get up!' And all lafayette did was stand up, shaking his hand, and said 'AHH!BONJOUR MON AMI!' And then kissing him on both sides of his face.

"He sounds like a nice guy."

"I had to hold back the guy from beating Laf."

"A little oblivious maybe?"

"I was punched multiple times in the face."

"At least Lafayette is kind."

"Lafayette was in the hospital.:

"You stood up for your friend"

"Lafayette lost a tooth."

"Ok, I'm trying to be positive and you're making it really hard."

"Huh," Hercules laughed, "I know. It was funny seeing you struggle."

Alex frowned.

"But you should've been there, it was funny."

"What did the teacher do throughout all of this?"

"He was recording it." Hercules quickly and frantically wiped out his phone and scrolled through some pictures. "Here it is!" Hercules shoved the phone to Alex's face and played a video. He saw a kid his age sitting up against a wall, getting punched. Looking at the boy who was punching, Alex could see Hercules, wrapping his arms around him and trying to pull him off.

"That's Lafayette..?" Alex said, pointing to the kid, that was now laying on the ground, passed out in the video.

"Ooh there goes the tooth!" Hercules seemed super exciting. Yeah that's Lafayette.

Alex got bored after 4 minutes of the video. Hercules saw Alex, staring out the window and quickly put his phone into his pocket.

"OOH THERE'S THE SIGN!" Hercules shouted. He squished Alex up against the window to see the sign they were about to pass.

"What's it say?" Alex said, muffled from Hercules pushing up against him.

"Didn't you just see?" Hercules asked, sitting back in his seat.

"I would've," Alex responded, running his fingers through his hair, "but there was a person on me."

"Sorry about that."

"What'd it say?"

"Oh, it just pretty much said we'd be there in the next 20 minutes."

"Oh cool."

"What's good is that you are arriving on a Saturday evening."

"That's good?"

"YeaH! This way, you can meet some people without bothering them with homework, and them needing to go the classes. It's a better time for meeting your roommate and stuff. More practical."

"Roommate?"

"Roommate…?"

Alex started breathing heavily. "I've never had a roommate before."

"Chillax dude."

"What if they don't like me?"

"They wi-"

"What if i don't like them?" Alex interrupted.

"Well, you can also ask to cha-"

"What if th-"

"ALEXANDER HAMILTON!"

Alex grew quiet and looked at Hercules dead in the eyes.

Hercules put both his hands on Alex's shoulders. "Alex," he said, "they'll like you, you'll probably like them and if you don't, you can just ask to change roommates."

"But what if," Alex looked down at hands. He saw the scars on his arms and bruises. "what if they're like James….?" There was a pause. Hercules nearly gasped, but thought that that wouldn't have been a good idea. Hercules didn't know what say.

He attempted to defuse the tension. You could cut it with a knife. Hercules chuckled and said, "Well then, they can answer to me." Seriously? Hercules thought to himself. No laugh, nothing? I thought that was funny.

Alex continued looking down.

Think of something else to say, Hercules.

"They won't, I promise. You're likable! Smart, nice, not a total ass. I like you just fine. I'm sure the will, too. But seriously, if they do act like James, tell me. I've got your back, always."

Alex looked back up. "Okay." He said softly.

"HEY!" Hercules shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

Alex bolted up, "WHAT?"

"I just remembered that Lafayette's roommate moved out and now his room is up for grabs! You gotta take it!"

"Why'd he move out?"

"The roommate didn't really 'like' Lafayette's 'personality'."

"Huh?"

"Lafayette is nice. And loud. And.. gives hugs…."

Alex glanced out the window, "And you want me to be his roommate?"

"It sounds worse than it is."

"I see."

Hercules looked at his watch, "We should be there in a few minutes. The bus stop is basically right outside of campus so there's no walk or anything like that."


	2. Its A Pleasure To Meet You

"Here we are." Hercules stood up and grabbed the backpack from his feet, but not before shoving scraps of clothes, toys and 'goodies' in it.

Alex stood up behind him. He stretched his legs and arched his back with his arms in the walked down the aisle a little bit and turned around, "pass me the duffle bag."

Alex leaned over to the seats across the aisle where all of their luggage was. He pulled up the heavy duffle and handed it to Hercules.

Alex pulled the suitcase off the seats and put the backpack around his shoulder. Hercules walked down the bus and said a big thanks to the driver.

Alex followed close behind him and gave the driver a small, "thank you."

Hercules was waiting for Alex at the bus doors. The bus pulled away. They boys were left looking at each other.

"Ready?" Hercules said, giving Alex a playful punch on the shoulder that hurt more than it should have.

"Not really."

Hercules chuckled, "Come on, I can't wait for you to meet everyone."

They walked silently, but Hercules had a big smile on his face.

The boys arrived at a big gate that had to be 20 feet tall, at least. There was a little brick building to the left side of the gates.

"Over here, Alex.¨

Alex followed Hercules over to the little brick building where there was a man sitting inside.

¨Hello gentlemen, how can I help you today?¨ The man inside the box asked.

¨Yeah hi. Im Hercules Mulligan.¨ He frantically pulled out his id from his pocket and showed it to the man. ¨I'm coming back from a visit from my parents.¨

¨Yes? And who is your guest? We're not allowing guest this weekend.¨

¨Nah, he isn't a guest. He´s a new student. Meet Alexander Hamilton!¨ Hercules patted Alex's back so hard he almost fell.

¨Hello Sir.¨ Alex said smiling and readjusting his bookbag.

The man picked up a clipboard that was a desk.

"Hmm...¨ The man said. Hercules nudged Alex with his arm to get his attention. ALex quickly turned his head to see Hercules smiling the biggest smile in the world. I take it back. He thought. My mom's smile was bigger. Alex raised his eyebrows then smiledback.  
Herculeswasn't looking at alex though. He was looking at the man in the box, waiting for him to let them through.

"Yup." The man started again. ¨I see an Alexander Hamilton. Ill open the gate for you two.¨

¨Thanks!¨

The big gate opened and they stepped through it. There was a whole town in there. There was a big building to the left. People were walking through the sidewalks and playing frisbe in the grass.

¨We gotta go in here first.¨ Hercules grabbed Alexs arm and pulled him to the big building.

¨Why?¨

¨To get your room and other things.¨

They walked into the building. There was a desk with a young lady sitting there.

¨Eliza Schlyer! How are you this fine day?¨ Hercules smiled as he walked to the table.

¨Hey Hercules. Why are you here?¨

"Meet a new member to add into the Revolutionary Crew. Alexander Hamilton!¨

Hercules moved to the side so that Eliza could see Alex. He was standing at the doorway. He lifted up a hand to say hi and quickly put it back down.

Eliza stood up out of her chair and stuck her hand out for Alex to shake. Alex walked over and shook it.

"Elizabeth Schuyler. It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled and blushed.

"Hi im Alexander Hamilton."

Hercules interrupted, "but his friends call him Alex so call him Alex."

Eliza let go of Alex's hand and asked, "is that true? Do you wanna be called Alex?"

"Yeah you can call me Alex."

"I'm your friend already? Wow go me!" Eliza laughed and alex smiled. She started again,"Do you have a set roommate or do you need the office to pick one for you?"

Alex looked at Hercules. Hercules said, "Lafayette PLEASE, miss Eliza."

"Thought so."

Eliza sat back down and spun her chair around to get into a file cabinet. She bent over to get to the bottom cabinet labeled 'Roommates.'

She searched through some files and then said, "AH-HAH!" She straightened her back and lifted up the file. She turned around and placed it down on the desk. Eliza opened it and started flipping papers. Hercules nudged Alex in the arm. Alex quickly turned  
hishead to his Hercules, staring back at Alex but using his head to juster towards Eliza who was paying no attention to any of this. Alex shook his head sharply as his eyes grew bigger. Hercules nodded with an even bigger smile, making histeeth  
seem likepearls compared to his dark skin. Alex continued shaking his head. There was no WAY Alex could make a move on this girl without seeming like a total spaz! Hercules put his arm behind Alex and pushed him towards the desk. He stumbledand  
let outa small squeal. Eliza's caramel hair was covering her eyes so to see what the commotion was, her hair flew up and over her head.

Alex put his hand behind his neck and started to sweat. He said with a voice crack "Hello."

"Well hello, Alex…" Eliza placed her hands in her lap and smiled.

ALex looked back at Hercules who was giving him thumbs up. The sweating boy laughed nervously before clearing his throat. "So, are you staff at this school?"

"Nah, this is just me volunteering over the weekends."

"That sounds fun!" Alex leaned awkwardly onto the desk.

"Not really. There's nothing to do. Meeting you has been the most interesting thing that has happened the past few months."

"Oh, that's not that fun.."

"Yeah."

ALex stared into Eliza's eyes and she did back.

"Well," She started up, "Here are your keys, room 321 (A/n im original). And building C. I hope you get a big greeting from Lafayette. I'll call the room to tell him you're moving in. Here is your schedule." Eliza turned the piece of paper beforegiving  
it to Alex so that she could see it. "Woah! 3 AP classes!? Thats amazing!"

"Yeah, thanks.." Alex looked at Eliza's brightened face. He just HAD to smile, too.

"You're taking AP French, too? Maybe we'll be in the same class! But, I'm only in AP french because my mom tried to teach me when I was younger and then she signed me up for it at this school."

"Yeah! That would be fun. And I'm not very good at French. I used to be fluent in French, I mean. But it kinda faded away when.. I moved to America."

"That's still cool though." SHe insisted.

An awkward silence appeared until hercules broke the quiet. "Thanks."

"Yeah thanks Eliza!" The two boys started to walk out of the building when the sound of Eliza's voice stopped them.

"Hercules! I need to speak with you for a minute." SHe said, standing up and walking out from behind her desk. "Would you excuse us, Alex.?"

"No problem." He waved his hand. "Hercules, I'm outside." And with that, ALex left the building. It was quiet except for the sound of Eliza's foot rapidly tapping the hardwood floor.

"Yo." Hercules said.

"Yo?" Eliza rolled her eyes. "Yo? Don't pretend like i didn't see you tell Alex to come flirt with me!"

"Uhh-"

"You KNOW I'm dating Samuel!"

"Pssh and I don't KNOW why!" Hercules said mocking her voice a little. "He's not good for you! You know that! I know that! Everyone knows that! He isn't a good person. We've seen the way he treats you and it's awful!"

"Samuel only does that because he loves me!" Eliza placed her hand on her chest.

"No! That's not an excuse! Eliza, he's a bad guy! He just uses you for your body and your 'daddy's' money."

"Well I didn't ask you what you thought of him!"

"Well then why did you ask to speak with me?"

The room grew quiet again."I just-" Eliza crossed her arms and looked down at the floor. "I just don't want to get into any more trouble than I already am in."

"With who would you be in trouble with?"

She stood silent and glanced out the door Alex went through.

"Eliza. Don't let that happen to you."

"I know I know it's okay I can handle it." Silence filled the room again until Eliza spoke up. "Don't tell him anything. Forget I said anything."

Hercules tried to speak, "Eliza-"

"No, it's fine." Her eyes filled with tears.

Hercules took a step closer to Eliza as she looked back to the floor beneath her feet. Hercules held out his arms for Eliza to fall into. She rested her head onto his shoulder and they slowly started to sway from side to side, back and forth. Silent  
/tears rolled down Eliza's face, and tears started to flood he knew he couldn't start showing sadness right now, that might make Eliza cry even more. Hercules shifted his position to tell her to bring her head back up. Hercules put bothhis hands/on  
/her shoulders. "Eliza, come to the Crew for help." The 'Crew' was what they called their group of friends with John Laurens, Lafayette, Hercules, Eliza, Angelica and Peggy. "We can always help you."

"Thanks, Hercules."

"You sure you got this under control?"

"Of course I do." She didn't. She knew that. But Hercules had to drop the conversation now. Hercules wanted to believe her but he knew that Eliza was slowly, surely falling apart. Between all of the Exams coming up and the drama in Eliza's life,imaginthestress.  
Imagine the all-nighters she's had trying to study for tests or staying up all night crying because someone said something hurtful to her during school. She was a sensitive girl, after all. Imagine Eliza, kneeling on thebathroom floowhile screaming  
and crying, having panic attack after panic attack. John Laurens saw her having a panic attack on the girl's bathroom floor, once. (But i'm getting ahead of myself lmao)..

"Ok. But Eliza."Eliza looked up from the floor.

"Text every ONCE in awhile. Just so I know you're okay. I know that you see nearly everyday and we hang out like 24/7 but I also know that it's hard to talk about things in front of Revolutionary Crew without all of them overwhelming you, astuff.

Just having a little one-on-one would be nice."

"I will."

"Oh Shoot! Alex is probably wondering what I'm doing!" Hercules bolted up and smiled frantically at Eliza.

"Oh right, I forgot about him." She chuckled.

"Well don't! He's gonna be one of us now. It'll be fun!"

"How are you sure HE even wants to?"

"I met him. He's not good at making friends.." Hercules readjusted his backpack.

"Wow burn." Eliza smiled and then looked out the door to make sure Alex wasn't hearing them.

"I made it sound more hurtful than it actually is. He's just timide and won't make the first move to talk to other people."

"One question, though."

"Yeah..?"

"What's his damage? Like, super awkward, looks like he doesn't eat much, and don't make me mention all the bruises on his face."

Hercules quickly turned his head to look at the door, too. "I'll text you. But don't tell anyone! Talking on the bus was the most awkward conversation ever."

"Oh, okay!" She tried to sound cheery.

"I'm probably going to have to tell Laf so that he'll go easy on him and not be as overwhelming as usual."

"Poo! I gotta call him!" Eliza whirled around and headed for the phone on the desk. Hercules smiled when she said 'poo'. Eliza wasn't very fond of cussing.

"I got it Eliza, don't worry."

"Oh."

As if on cue, Hercules' phone buzzed. It was Lafayette.

 _Laf: Where are you i wanna met this alex!?"_

"Do you mind? I gotta text him before he starts spamming." Hercules showed Eliza the phone as he sighed.

"Pssh, I don't care, man." She walked back around to her desk.

 _Hercules: I just had to talk to Eliza in the office for a minute. Hold your horses, Laf._

 _Laf: My horses..?_

 _Hercules: It's a saying, it means don't be so impatient._

 _Laf: Oh, interesting._

 _Hercules: Hey but i need to tell you something about Alex._

 _Laf: What's up?_

 _Hercules: Well, don't be so loud andoverwhelming around him right now._

 _Laf: what if i can't help it?_

 _Hercules: Laf, please.._

 _Laf: Ok ok! Why if i might ask?_

 _Hercules: Well, he's shy and is nervous. Y'know, new school, new life._

 _Laf: I guess that makes sense._

 _Hercules:And don't ask about the bruising on his face. He came from an abusive household after his father left and his mom died. It's a touchy topic so shhh. Don't tell him i told you._

 _Laf: Pauvre bebe!_

 _Hercules: I know. I'll tell you more later, I gtg_

 _Laf: gtg?_

 _Hercules: gtg= got to go we've been over this_

 _Laf: A bientot!_

"I should probably get going." Hercules shoved his phone into his pocket.

"alrighty then. Tell Alex I said bye!"

"I will. The RC should have dinner tonight. I haven't seen you guys in awhile and it would be nice with Alex there."

"That's a good idea!" Eliza brightened

"Full of 'em!" And with that, Hercules exited the building.


	3. Literally

"Sorry about that Alex!" Hercules ran up to Alex who was leaning up against the wall of the building.

"It's okay. I needed the air." Alex stood up and picked up his bags. He sighed with an awkward thing of a smile.

"Let's go! I'm excited!" Hercules clapped his hands together once and rubbed them together.

"Somehow, so am I." Alex chuckled a little, but then abruptly stopped.

"That's the spirit, Alex! Let's go introduce you to the RC!" Hercules started for the buildings surrounding a fountain with lots of sidewalks leading everywhere imaginable.

"RC is the revolutionary crew? I heard you say that while in the office." Alex caught up to Hercules who was a few feet ahead of him.

"Yeah the Revolutionary crew is me, Laurens, laf, Angelica, Eliza and Peggy."

"Who is Angelica and Peggy?"

"They are Eliza's sisters. Peggy is the youngest and Angelica is the oldest. They are the Schyler Sisters." Hercules did unnecessary jazz hands. Alex hid his smile by looking the opposite way.

"And you are the revolutionary crew because…?"

"Ehh. It's an inside joke and a long story. basically eliza and John had history together and sat with each other. Then John showed Eliza his friends and she showed us her sisters and Viola! You've got yourself an RC, baby!"

Alex couldn't hide his smile this time. Alex was kind of impressed by Hercules excitement just from talking about his friends. He seemed like a nice guy, right? That was wishful thinking. He didn't deserve a friend like this.

"That sounds fun." Fun.. hmm. It seems fun to have friends that cared about each other like this.

"Yeah it really is i can't wait for you to be an official member of the RC."

"How do I do that? How do I become 'official'?" Alex put up hands and made air quotes with his fingers.

"It's easy. all you gotta do is go to a history class." Hercules laughed at his own joke and the stupidity of it all.

"Hah." Alex let out a forced laugh when he realized Hercules was trying to be funny.

"yeah" Hercules looked at Alex and raised his eyebrows. Hercules didn't like Alex's lack of humor and his inability to hold a conversation with someone. Don't say anything about that, Hercules. He thought. It's probably how his house was like.

And it was.

Alex was never allowed to show emotions at his house with James. He wasn't allowed to show joy in front of James without being made fun of. And he wasn't allowed to show weakness anytime he was hurt or upset. There were consequences. James was strict  
with anger balled up inside of him.

* * *

"No.." alex mumbled to himself. The moonlight shining through his window looked straight out of a horror movie. "No no no." He stared at his wall while laying on his bed, holding his stomach. James had just hurt him again. As usual-it  
was alexs fault. It was always his fault. He did knock over the salt, after all.

James had sent him upstairs after the salt incident. James was downstairs, probably drinking more beer than he should

The words James screamed rung in Alex's ears. The words got so loud in his head, he couldn't help but wince. Stupid. Lonely. Irritating. Bitch. Gay. Everyone hates you. Kill yourself already.

"It's not his fault." He continued to mumble. "Stop screwing up Alex, stupid boy." Now, the teenager was raising his voice. He let out a loud groan "You're always messing up!" Alex started shouting while standing up and pacing  
around his room. Another angry growl escaped his mouth.

"Alex!" James hissed from downstairs. "Don't make me come up there, boy!" The floors and walls were thin. Everything was audible throughout the old, creaky house.

Alex didn't respond to James, knowing it's time to keep his mouth shut. He squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed his own hair, starting to pull on it. "No no no." Alex gritted his teeth. "See, you messed up again!" Falling back onto his  
bed, finally let go of his hair, his eyes got watery. He wanted- no, needed to scream and cry and kick and shout. But he knew that that wasn't a good idea.

Alex's breath started to slow as he relaxed.

He breathed "Stop messing up… Just stop.."

Just stop.

* * *

Alex looked all around him. He saw kids laughing and playing. Walking and talking. Sleeping on the grass or reading a book. And then he saw…. papers. That's right… papers..

Alex felt a hard force on his shoulder, he had bumped into another person. Alex was now on the ground, on his butt. When all of the papers had settled, he looked in front of him where there was another person sitting on his butt, bracing himself with  
his elbows.

The other person let out a bring groan, "UGHH!" He said flustered, "all I wanted was to go to the library! I didn't ask for all this falling and mess!" The person got on their knees and started picking up papers.

Alex was scared. At home, he would've gotten such a bad punishment for doing something like this so, he just sat there, frozen in time.

"Alex!" Hercules stood above him, holding out an arm for Alex to grab. Alex didn't move a muscle. He instead stayed frozen. "Alex..?" He waved his arm in front of Alex's face to try and bring him back to reality. "You good, dude?"

"Oh..!" Alex snapped back to reality. Grabbing Hercules' muscle arm, he hoisted himself up onto both feet.

The guy on the ground was blinded by the bright sun when he tried to look up at the other two boys. He lifted his hand to create shade for his eyes.

"Ahh Aaron Burr, Sir. It's nice we bumped into you today." Hercules chuckled. "Literally!" He held out his arm for Aaron to grab onto as well. Aaron rolled his eyes and huffed as he grabbed the arm. The papers were still on the ground.  
Aaron bent back down and started picking them up.

"I'm really sorry." Alex said carefully, fearful of what could come. He bent down as well and started picking up the papers. Aaron stood back up and rubbed his own back in pain.

Hercules snorted "It's okay, Alex. I'm sure Aaron's 5 hour study session can wait."

Alex stood up as if timed with Aaron. Alex handed handed the papers to Aaron.

¨Thanks...¨ Aaron glanced down at the papers in his hands and then back at Alex. ¨Name?¨he stared alex in the eyes.

¨Huh?¨ Alex glanced over at Hercules who was interested in the conversation. Was he allowed to talk to this stranger?

¨You're name is Huh? That's original.¨ Aaron rolled his eyes. ¨What´s you name, Huh?¨

Alex panicked. ¨My name is Alexander Hamilton.¨ He stuck out his hand to be shaken. Aaron hesitantly and slowly reached out and shook it.

¨Alex,¨ Hercules interrupted carefully. ¨This is Aaron Burr. He is the most advanced kid in our grade and is the most stubborn kid, too.¨

Aaron shot him a dirty look and then looked back to Alex. ¨Yes, thats me.¨

Alex nodded.

¨Ok, well...¨ and with that, Aaron walked down the sidewalk, to the library. I guess both alex and Aaron can't hold conversations. Hercules thought. Hercules decided blaming the awkward, short conversation on Aaron by yelling down the sidewalk.

"This is why you don't have any friends, Burr!"

Aaron walked even faster but not before flipping Hercules off.

Hercules turned to Alex, scoffing "What a prick."

Alex didn't respond.

"Whatever.." Hercules rolled his eyes and shook his head one last time. "Let's go." The two started walking as Hercules talked.

"You see," he started, "Aaron's a dick."

Alex shot Hercules a glance but continued forward.

"Most people hate him for being a no-it-all and acting like he has a stick up his ass, but that's not what gets me."

Alex became intrigued. "Huh?"

"He never has an argument. Never.." He struggled to find the right words. "I don't know how to explain it. He goes with the flow too much. He switches sides more than clothes if it gets him his way and he never stands for anything, y'know?"

"Yeah…" alex sighed.

They walked in silence until alex spoke up. "Sorry." He said.

"Pardon?" Hercules turned around to see Alex standing still like a statue.

"Sorry I bumped into him and made a mess and wasted time." His hands started fidgeting.

"Alex," Hercules nearly rolled his eyes. "You're not a failure. I'm not going to hurt you. And, you're not a waste of time. Don't ever think that."

Alex didn't respond. Instead, he rubbed his eyes in attempt to hide the tears forming, the quivering of his lips and the fear in his eye.

"Whomever this 'james' was, he sounds like a douche and doesn't know what he is missing out on. You're a great person and I'm glad to have met you."

Wow. Alex thought. His head bolted up to look at his new friend, eyes filled with childlike

Hercules continued quickly, "Come on! Let's get you to your room."

They showed up at a building. Hercules opened the door for Alex as he tip toed in.

"This way, alex." Alex follows Hercules through a hallway.

Hercules turned around to see Alex following swiftly behind him.

"Alex.." Hercules sighed and frowned. "Hey Alex…?"

Alex let out a small "Yeah?"

"I..I.. told Lafayette about your story. I mean, i tried to make it as limited as possible. But, it's kinda hard to explain to people with little detail."

"What..?" Alex gasped, face turning pale white. "But you said-"

"I know! I know! I know I said I wasn't going to say anything. But I knew you weren't going to and Lafayette had to be told to tone it down a little."

Alex didn't respond but shifted his posture uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry, Alex."

Still no response.

"I thought it was necessary for Lafayette to know. I won't tell anyone else I'm sorry." Yikes. Hercules thought. Guess I can't tell Eliza.

"Thank you…" Alex finally said.

"You can hold it against me for as long as you want. Hell, even till your death bed. I know i should've done it."

"No.." alex finally spoke. "I'm being stupid. Thank you for being brave for me."

They arrived at a door.

"Hey yo Laf!" Hercules banged on the door. "We're here!"

The door quickly opened. Alex was standing face to face with a brown skin boy. The boy had a few inches on him. His hair was up in a bun which made his cheekbones look sharp.

"Welcome! Welcome!" Lafayette stuck out his hand. "I'm marquis de lafayette. You must be alex, no?"

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Sorry that took me so long to write! I hit the ol' writers block on both my stories. Yikes.**

 **QUESTION!: should I do Lams?**


	4. There is No In between with that Boy

**IIA/N: Warning: Boring dialogue ahead! Read at your own risk!**

* * *

Alex nodded his head slightly.

"Well come in, come in! Let's get you settled." Lafayette pulled Alex into the room and Hercules followed shortly after, quietly laughing to himself.

"This is your bed." Lafayette pointed to the bed on the left side of the room.

"Okay." Alex said tiredly.

"And this is the desk. We can share it but you can pretty much claim it as your own because I don't do much homework." Lafayette smiled.

"Ok. Wha-" alex tried to ask more questions but was interrupted.

"OH! And this is my bed. You can sit on it if you want but I don't recommend it."

"That's his way of saying that it smells bad and he doesn't want you to think he is gross." Hercules said, closing the door.

Before Lafayette could shoot back with an insult of his own, Alex was speaking. "What are the rules here?" Alex lifted his suitcase and placed it on his bed so that he can unpack.

"Rules?" Lafayette scratched his head. "This is your home. You make the rules, mon ami."

"Really?" Alex was unsure if his new roommate was joking or not. The slight smile on his face could mean anything.

"Really really!" Hercules butted in. There was an awkward silence then Hercules spoke up again. "Alex, I know you must be tired but there is another person we want you to meet, if it's okay with you."

"Ah OUI!" Lafayette jumped, " Laurens! Yes! Go! Retrieve him!" He demanded.

Hercules looked back at Alex for an opinion.

"Yeah." Alex sighed, "Go get him."

"You sure? John can be a handful sometimes." Hercules said.

"But," Lafayette added. "He can also be a shy turtle that doesn't know how to talk to people. There really isn't an in between." He shrugged.

"Yes. I'll… I'll be fine." Alex tried to smile but his body wouldn't let him.

"Alright.." Hercules said hesitantly. "Well then, I'm heading out." As Hercules started to turn around to retrieve his friend, Alex grabbed his arm and jolted Hercules back.

"Wait!" Alex almost whimpered. His voice cracked, hoarse.

"Hm?" Hercules was startled by Alex's action but he knew he had to stay calm.

"I don't- I don't- know if Laurens, like if he-" Alex stammered with his eyes starting to fill once more as he talked. The words wouldn't come out of his mouth. The anxiety and fear just built up inside of his body, making him shake.

"Slow the roll, alex!" Lafayette butted in as he grabbed Alex's shoulders. "John Laurens is a fine little boy. He'll like you so do not sweat."

Alex took a step back and sat on his bed. "Sorry.. I just… I don't know. I just sometimes… get panicky."

"Alex..?" Lafayette stepped closer to Alex.

"Hm?"

"Are you panicky at me?"

Hercules almost laughed at Lafayette's incorrect grammar.

"No!" Alex nearly cracked his neck looking so high up at his roommate. "I get scared easily, that's all. You seem like a perfect roommate."

"Oh…" Lafayette lifted his hand. Alex flinched when he thought it was coming to strike him on his face. Instead, Lafayette's hand moved slowly down to Alex's head. Lafayette patted his head multiple times.

"Good job, Laf." Hercules smiled. "You know how to be extremely awkward around someone."

"You're just realizing that now?" Lafayette joked. "And perfect is a little bit of a stretch, Alex. I'm loud and don't know how to respect people's personal space, I'll admit it."

"You got that right!" Hercules laughed. Lafayette gave him a slight slap on the arm.

"Alright well! I'll be back in a few minutes. Laf, don't overwhelm the boy." And with that, Hercules slammed the door and left Lafayette and Alex alone.

"So…" Lafayette shoved his hands into the pockets of his skinny jeans.

"So…" Alex looked out the window.

"How you liking Yorktown so far?" Lafayette asked.

"It seems like a nice place, I guess." It honestly did. The campus looked beautiful. Especially in this weather.

This was Alex's favorite weather. He found the cold around him to be fascinating. The sky was a nice gray-blue colored in clouds. There was wind blowing. But alex loved the cold. When he lived in Nevis, it was never cold. He learned to enjoy the weather  
/here.

Silence.

"I believe the saying is, 'slow your roll.' Not 'slow the roll.'" Alex tried to smile. In fact, he didn't know why he wasn't. All he knew is that he couldn't.

"Huh?"

"Earlier," alex continued. "You said 'slow the roll.' I just thought it was 'slow your roll.' That's all."

"Oh well." Lafayette snorted slightly.

Not surprisingly, silence.

"And I heard you met Eliza already, no?"

"Yeah I met her." He chuckled, remembering the embarrassment he felt.

"She's so sweet."

"Yes." Alex agreed. "She seems very nice."

"Her sisters are great, too. Angelica, well, she can be intimidating but for good reasons."

"Angelica's the oldest one, right?" Alex asked.

Lafayette nodded in response. "Yeah she is the oldest one. And then there's Peggy."

"What's Peggy like?"

"Everyone underestimates her. Because, you know, it's 'Angelica, Eliza and Peggy. She's the youngest so she isn't taken seriously. But she is really very bright and very manipulative but since she's the youngest, no one can tell what she's doing.

But I can!"

Alex laughed as his roommate marched around the room.

"So Alexander is your full name?"

"Yeah.." He sighed.

"Do you want to go by Alex or go by Alexander?" Lafayette cocked his head.

"Either is fine."

"Who started calling you Alex? A middle school friend or maybe an aunt?"

"No.."

Silence. Lafayette pressed his lips together as he looked at Alex.

"My mother."

Shit. Lafayette thought. Hercules told me not to talk about his mom or anything. Damn it, Laf why can't you keep your big mouth shut?

Lafayette knew that he had to change the subject, and fast. He could already hear Alex sniffing. Unsure if it was unrelated to his mother or not, Lafayette redirected the topic a little.

"Call me Lafayette. Or Laf is for close friends. Considering we will be living together for the next year, I'd consider us close friends."

"Alright"

"So..?" Lafayette said. "Alexander?"

Alex laughed a little. "Yes." He smile. "Alexander."

Silence again. Lafayette laid down in his bed. He placed his arms behind his head and said, "We should do something fun." He sighed.

Alex turn to his suitcase and tried to start unpacking once more. He scoffed a little, feeling comfortable in this environment. Being around a bunch of kids outside can be more overwhelming than sitting in a tiny dorm with someone who was going to end  
/up being your best friend.

"What did you have in mind, Lafayette?"

"Not sure." Silence again. Lafayette sat up, legs hanging off his bed. "You need any help unpacking? I don't mind helping."

"I'm ok. Thank you, though."

Lafayette sighed. Silence YET again. The silence that filled the room made time seem the pass slow. Alex would stiffen, and Lafayette practically held his breath.

But then suddenly, the door bursted open.

"Weeeee'reeee heeeerrreee!" Hercules practically kicked the door down. Alex winced when the door hit the wall. Lafayette laughed.

"Ah! Mon ami!" He shouted playfully. "If you break the door, you pay for it."

Hercules stepped through the door. "Alex, meet John Laurens!" He moved to the side as another boy entered the room.

Wow. Alex thought.

This boy could pass as a rather tall 9 year old from far away; his face made him look young. His ponytail filled with brown curls bounced when he walked slowly into the room.

"Alex," Hercules pushed John forwards. "This is John Laurens. Aka: turtles. Aka: freckles. Aka-"

Hercules was cut off by the slap on his shoulder. "Aka: JOHN!" John stuck his hand out for Alex to shake. "Hi. I'm John. I have lots of nicknames as you will soon find out."

"Alexander Hamilton." The boy hesitantly grabbed the hand and shook it.

Lafayette stood up. "Herc," he said, "I need to talk to you outside."

"Yo." Hercules followed Lafayette outside of the room. It was left silent.

"So.." john looked around the room.

"Hi…"

"You liking Yorktown so far?"

"I guess. I haven't been here much so I can't tell." Alex walked back over to his bed, where the suitcase and duffle bag lay.

"Herc told me you bumped into Burr. Literally."

"Yes.."

"He's a prick. Don't worry about him not wanting to talk to you or anything. You seem like a cool person from what I've heard."

"Thank you, John."

The sound from outside the window was the only thing to be heard. Birds chirping, children laughing and the occasional curse word.

"When I was meeting you, I thought you were a girl." John flung his head back, laughing.

"Huh..?"

"Cause like, Herc kept calling you 'Alex Alex Alex' and the only other Alex I know is a girl."

"Oh, well that's-" Alex began to speak but was cut off by John.

"If you were a girl, what would your name be?" He blurted out.

"I'm sorry. What?" This 'John' person changed the subject faster than Alex was able to understand.

"I think my name would be Laura. You could be Alexandra! Oh! Or Aly for short!"

"Yes but isn't LAURENS your last name? Why does your last name have to change gender?"

Realistically, if anyone at Alex's old school ever dared to call him Aly, they'd have a black eye within the next 30 seconds.

Silence filled the room again. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Alex unpacking and John's heavy breathing.. Johns eyes widen. What should I say? He thought. "You're not much of a talker, are you?" Good one, John.

"No. sorry." Alex didn't turn around to speak.

"Need help unpacking?" John got up to peak over Alex's shoulder.

* * *

"What's up Lafayette?" Hercules closed the door.

"Alexander doesn't find me funny." Lafayette crossed his arms and huffed. "I don't know, he is hard to talk to and makes me feel like I've done something wrong to upset him."

"Maybe you're not funny." Hercules laughed. "And I told you about him. He doesn't talk much."

"And you left him in a room with shy Turtles to have a conversation? Did you tell John about his story or anything?"

"I wasn't even supposed to tell you." Hercules became interested in his shoelaces. He did feel kinda bad about it 'exposing' Alex.

"Is he ashamed?" Lafayette asked. "If I were HIM, I'd be proud. I say, 'I had this hard life and I'm still alive and well."

"But- he's not well." Hercules looked around the hallway to make sure no one was around. Hercules brought his hand up and pointed it to Lafayette's chest. "And he's not you, either."

"He's just- quiet. I don't think he'll like me. I'm loud, remember?"

'Yes." Hercules rebutted. "But you are also caring, friendly and one of my best friend! It's hard not to like you."

Lafayette blushed a little. He started to think.

"I don't think he likes anyone to be honest." Hercules brought up his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it.

"He likes you!" Lafayette jesters his hands to Hercules. "You guys seem to like each other."

"Yeah but I spent 9 hours on a bus ride with him. After a week, I bet he'll open up."

"You think so…?"

"Yes," Hercules put his hand on lafayette's shoulder. "Just be yourself. Actually, be quieter, and less annoying. And if you would ease up on the cologne too, that'd be great." He smiled.

Lafayette simply rolled his eyes.

"You'll be fine, Laf."

"You're probably right." They stood looking at each other. Then Lafayette sighed.

"Let's go defuse the awkwardness between turtles and Alex."

"Ah yes. Let's." As Hercules reached for the door, his phone buzzed. He pulled the phone out of his pocket.

"It's from Peggy." Hercules looked interested at the phone as Lafayette tried to hover over his shoulder.

Peg: hey! Liza said you wanted dinner with the RC? And I gotta meet this Alex, Eliza won't shut up about him!

"I'll get back to her later."

Hercules bursted through the doors. Alex and John were facing each other, while sitting on Alex's bed. They both flinched and jumped in their seats as the door hit the wall.

"Hercules," John said, turning his head around to look at the door. "We've been through this before. You twist the doorknob. You don't just kick the door down for Pete's Sake!"

"You're gonna have to catch these hands if you wanna start some beef with me, Freckles." He barked back. Hercules walked over to John and leaned up against him, as if asking him to get up and friendly wrestle him.

"Maybe later," john looked back at Alex and look him in the eyes while saying, "I'm talking with Alex right now."

Lafayette closed the door and plopped down onto his bed. "Ship it!" He shouted.

"Huh?" Alex had never heard that term before. Ship? What the hell is that?

"Ship." Hercules simply said. "Has the word 'ship' not gotten to New York yet?"

"UGH." John groaned as he rolled his eyes. "Guys, cool it."

Lafayette sat up on his bed. "Awe." He said. "Did we making widdly Fweckles agwey?"

Hercules laughed. John rolled into the floor and lay on his back, arms out wide like a snow angel. "You guys are so annoying." John hissed.

"Again," Alex said, waving his arms in the air. "What does ship mean?"

"Ship." John said sternly. "Like relation-ship?"

"Oh!" Alex finally understood. "Oh?" He said again. He finally understood. "Oh." He finally understood.

Hercules kicked John's arm lightly. "Yes." Hercules said with a smile. "If you hadn't guessed by the clothes he's wearing, John is gay."

"Alright." John stood up quickly, with a small smirk. "Now i'm ready to catch your hands."

"Hah!" Lafayette yelled out. Alex still sat quietly on his bed.

The two boys stood face to face, only inches away from each other.

"Now," Hercules' eyebrows made an arch. "Don't you go off kissing me, Johnny." He joked.

Silence.

"I hate you."

"Noooo." Hercules said. "You love me."

"Fine." John gave up.

Lafayette looked it Alex as they sat across the room from each other. Both, also sitting crisscross applesauce on their beds.

"Hercules is joking, Alexander. They aren't really going to fight." Lafayette said. "They really do love each other."

"Oh.." Alex said, straightening his legs and stretching.

"Not like that!" John turned around. "We aren't dating or nothin'. But we like saying I love you too each other."

"People don't find that weird?" Alex asked. In his neighborhood up in New York, it was very 'closed minded.' People weren't fond of LGBT rights. Alex was in full support of these rights, though. He knew that his town was a town full of thosepeople.

Hercules butted in. "People don't care, man. It's 2016!" He shrugged.

"Most people don't care." Lafayette added.

"Some people don't care." John corrected. "It's 2016, dude. If people do care, then we cut them out of our lives."

"Or," Lafayette stood up. "We, how you say? Kick their asses..?"

"That's how it works." John shrugged. "By the way, Lafayette." John looked over at Lafayette. "I love you."

Lafayette blew a kiss back to John. "I love you, too, mon amour." John and Lafayette stood, smirking at each other. Hercules shot Alex a glance and quickly looked out the window.

"Anyone wanna grab dinner with the Schuyler Sisters? Peggy just texted and asked."

"Oui!" Lafayette bounced out of bed and stood staring at Hercules.

"I'm down!" John Laurens said. John looked at Alex with a smile, who was still sitting criss-cross applesauce on his own bed. "What about you, Aly?"

Alex stood up to and gesture to his bag that was still laying on his bed, full with clothing and school supplies. "Umm. Well, I haven't unpacked or anything, so-."

"There's always time tomorrow!" Lafayette reached into his back pocket for his phone. "So… We're all in, yes?" He held the phone to his face, hiding his toothy smile.

"But I-" Alex tried to speak but was interrupted by Hercules who stepped forward.

"Laf. Slow down. Alex doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to. And, as the saying goes, 'there's no time like the present time.'"

Lafayette sighed. "Yeah." His shoulders dropped. "You're right. You don't have to if you don't want to, Alexander. The last thing I want to do if make you feel uncomfortable."

"You guys don't want me to come. I- i'd ruin it. I'd change the dynamics."

"Oh, shut up, Aly!" John said. "Of course we want you to come. That's why we invited you."

Alex wanted to roll his eyes. By now, his fists should be clenched and he should be ready to throw a punch any moment. But he didn't.

"Yeah!" Lafayette unnecessarily added.

Lafayette meant well. He really wanted his Alexander to come and meet The Schuyler Sisters. But, Lafayette was loud and excitable. He just really loved his friends and wants the best for them.

John sighed. "As I was saying, we'd love if you joined us. And I know that the Sisters will be happy to meet you."

"They already are!" Hercules nearly shouted. "Well, Eliza already met you but from what I heard from Peggy is that she won't stop talking about you!"

"Really..?" Alex took a seat back on his bed. "Huh."

"Pleeeeease come with us, Alexander !" Lafayette pleaded. He plastered a huge smile on his face.

John added. "I think you'd have fun. And we'd all love if you came."

"Guys," Hercules stepped up and walked over to Alex, putting an arm around him. "He doesn't have to go if he doesn't want to."

"No, no." Alex spoke up. "If you really want me to come, then I'll come. But-"

"Oh! Genial! I'll text Peggy!" Lafayette brought his phone to his face and began to text away.

"Okay. Great!" John laughed while looking at Alex. "This should be fun."

Alex nodded. "How does 'getting dinner' work? Do we pay for the food?"

"Well," Hercules started, slightly confused at the question Alex had just asked. "Boarding school has everything paid for you in advance so kids don't need to worry about money."

"Oh.." Alex didn't have any money on him so he would have to pay. "Is the dining hall always opened?"

"Yup!" John said. "It's always opened. So you can go on and get food anytime you want. Pretty fun, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

A sound came from Lafayette's phone. The other three boys turned their heads to them.

"Meeting at the Dining Hall at 7:30, sound good?" Lafayette asked.

"Perfect!" Hercules looked at his watch. "It's 7:00 now, so we should get going in the next few minutes."

"Alright." John turned to Alex. "We could go early and show Aly around a little. Wanna?"

"Um sure." He responded.

John smiled. "Cool. Ready to go guys?"

"Yup!"

"Oui!"

* * *

The boys were walking down the sidewalk. Lafayette and Hercules were in the back.

"See?" Hercules whispered to Lafayette. "I told you that he would open up. And apparently sooner than we thought! We shouldn't have been that worried. He's gonna do just fine here."

Lafayette sighed. "Yeah. He seems like a good roommate. I shouldn't be worried." He said louder than he should've. This conversation got to John's ears and even though he didn't have very good hearing, the boys were loud enough to be heard.

John cleared his throat. "In the words of my little sister Martha, 'Secrets, secrets are no fun so share your secrets with everyone.'"

Lafayette; master at changing the subject was the first to speak. "As you can see, Alexander, the library is to your left. It just got painted a baby blue even though I strongly recommended a hot pink."

Hercules looked at the library along with Alex. John wasn't buying it.

"Hmm." Alex said.

Lafayette muttered something under his breath. "Merde. Je suis si stupide."

Hercules sighed but Alex wiped around. "Non, vous n'êtes pas si stupide, Lafayette." Alex said.

Lafayette choked on his breath. "Vous parlez français aussi?"

"Yeah." Alex chuckled. "I can speak French, too."

John and Hercules smiled.

"This is great! You should've told me sooner, Alexander!" Lafayette pushed John off the sidewalk and wrapped his arms around Alex's shoulders. "I'm so happy! Finally someone who can actually speak it."

"I'm not that good at reading or writing it, though. That's why I'm taking it as a class."

John walked to the other side of Alex. "When did you learn it?"

"When I lived.." Alex looked as though he had gone into a trance. "When I lived in Nevis."

"Where's Nevis?" John asked. He was actually curious. Hercules on the other hand wanted to put duct tape over John's mouth. Hercules had a feeling that Alex would break down again and they did not need that. Instead of actually getting duct

tape, Hercules tapped John's shoulder violently. John turned his head to look at Hercules who was shaking his head. No. Is what he was trying to say. Shut up, John. Don't talk about i-.

Before Hercules could try and mentally tell John to knock it off, John was already talking again. "So, where is Nevis?"

"It's an island in the Caribbean."

"That's so cool!" John jumped. "So you moved to America? When? Why? How!?"

"John." Hercules said. "Stop i-" Hercules couldn't tell John to stop. To everyone's surprise, well, to Hercules' surprise, Alex spoke up.

"Yeah," He said quietly. "I moved to America when I was 10 with my mother."

"Oh cool!" John smiled. "You know any more languages?" He joked while elbowing Alex in the side.

"Yeah actually. I know English, French, Spanish and a small bit of Hebrew."

All of the three boys mouth's dropped.

"No way.." Lafayette said.

"Seriously?" Hercules asked, even though he knew that Alex was probably telling the truth.

"Say something in Hebrew!" John yelled.

"Oh um ok." Alex thought for a moment. "Atah echad hayah muzar." He grinned.

"Translation please, Alexander?" Lafayette asked.

"I said, 'you all are weird.'"

John and Lafayette laughed. Hercules smiled but was intrigued by Alex's comfort. Hercules was serious when he told Lafayette, 'sooner than we thought.' Maybe all he needed was a few hours around people that loved him.

"Annnnd we're here!" Lafayette shouted. "The Dining Hall!" John grabbed Lafayette's hand, "Come on, guys! We have to find a table!" Lafayette grabbed Alex's hand and jerked him off of his feet and nearly threw him through

the air. Alex reached behind and grabbed Hercules' hand. The four boys ran into the dining hall, laughing and out of breath. It's been awhile since Alex felt this happy, loved, safe.

"Over her!" A young woman's voice called out to the boys.

"Come on, guys. They're already here with a table." John dashed through the crowds of people to go meet the famous Schuyler Sisters. Hercules laughed as he followed.

Hercules turned around and said to the two boys left standing, "He's like a puppy I swear." And left smiling.

Alex was still panting when Lafayette walked up to him with a smirk. "I told you there's no in between with that boy."

* * *

 **a/n: but really, thank you for all that have reviewed and favorited. It makes my day! Anyone have any ideas who Lafayette should be with? If you guys have any parings, let me know! I'd be happy to try and work with it! Anyways, thanks! -julia**


	5. Yeah, I'm Alex

**A/N: Go to the end to read why I left the Earth for like a whole year lol. alsO I WAS READING THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS TO THIS STORY AND IT'S SO BAD JFC WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME I SUCK OH MY LORD**

"Come on, Alexander." Lafayette tug on Alex's arm and pulled him through some crowds. They arrived at a table shaped as a circle, three of the seats taken by girls.

" _Finally._ " A brown skin young woman said, with an exaggerated exhale. "You must be Alex." She stood up from the table and reached across the table with her hand out. She wasn't older the age of 18 but her body and posture made her look mature and sophisticated. "Angelica Schuyler. Finally, we get to meet you." And the smile that covered her face showed her confidence.

Alex slowly took the hand and shook it, nodding slightly, only sparing Angelica a small glance. He sat in between Hercules and John. Lafayette took a seat and scooted in his chair next to a light skinned girl with straight brown hair, both giggling the girl and Lafayette, giggling.

"Hi." Alex finally said, eyeing the other girls at the table. "Yeah, I'm Alex." He squeaked out, followed by him pursing his lips together in slight discomfort. He's never been good at meeting people.

"This," Angelica said as she gestured to the girl that was still giggling next to Lafayette, her confident smirk only growing. "Is Peggy. Our little sister." She turned her attention back to Alex, with her hand now placed on Peggy's shoulder.

"Indeed" Said the younger, with a somewhat toothy smile. "I am Peggy." She nodded to Alex and then playfully stuck out her tongue.

Alex gave an understanding nod, a small smile appearing on his face on his face as he did so. Peggy. Such a unique name. It's probably short for something. Something like… Penelope? Peg.. Okay, Alex honestly has no idea what 'Peggy' could be short for.

"And, then of course Eliza." Angelica leaned over to Eliza's shoulder and grinned. "You guys already met, from what I'm told."

John joined the conversation, his elbows bracing himself on the table. "Angelica is in the grade ahead of us, Eliza is in 11th grade with us and Peggy's a sophomore."

Angelica reached her hand over to pinch Peggy's cheek. "She's the little baby."

Grunting, the 'little baby' slapped Angelica's hand away before rubbing her cheek that was now turning pink. "Am not.." she mumbled and frowned slightly.

Directly following after that, everyone had dismissed the subject and started a conversation. It seemed that Alex was the only one left, sitting there. Almost forgotten. He placed his hands in his lap and twiddled his thumbs. His glance moved to his hands and his smile began to fade. He still enjoyed everyone's presence. But… quietly. Not to mention, he was very exhausted. Emotionally and physically.

Once Eliza finished hearing a stupid joke from Peggy, she noticed Alex sitting there, barely noticeably smiling and knew that if no one else was going to talk to him, she will, without a doubt do it. "Did you get settled in okay, Alex?" She cooed, somewhat leaning closer to Alex (even though she was on the other side of the circular table) in hopes not to disturb the conversations going on around them.

Alex looked up from his hands with raised eyebrows. "Just fine, thank you."

She smiled in return, about to say something else until someone else beat her to it. The someone being Lafayette.

"Guys! I need to get food. I'm already scrawny enough and I haven't eaten since lunch."

"You literally had a sandwich like 2 hours ago." Peggy said.

"That's not the point." He responded quickly, like he knew that she was going to say that.

Hercules snickered, along with Eliza and John. Angelica rolled her eyes playfully, but Peggy crossed her arms.

They stayed the silence, until Lafayette needed to address the fact that he was hungry... again.

"I'm hungry!" He shouted, standing up. "I'm going to the dinner line. Johnny? Herc? Alexander?" John and Hercules nodded and started to get up and out of their seats.

Peggy, Eliza and Angelica already had plates in front of them. _Of course._ Lafayette thought, a grin growing across his face. _Of course they would get here early and then start eating without them._

It may be Lafayette's French instincts kicking in, but it was rude to eat without everyone at the table first, right? He's still not 100% adjusted to American culture. For example, he still feels the need to kiss mostly everyone on the cheeks.

The Schuyler Sisters seemed to be unstoppable. Lafayette thought that they were superheros. Not literally, but he does joke about it. They are always prepared, always ready and knew everything that Lafayette didn't. Man, did he love those girls.

Alex didn't move when Lafayette called him. To be fair, he wasn't really paying attention. Only looking ahead at Eliza, who had started talking to him, and he just couldn't find a way to look away. She even still had that soft smile, followed by soft eyes that makes her look like a puppy.

"Alex…?" Angelica looked at him. The second someone else spoke, it snapped Alex back into reality.

"Hm?"

"They already started walking to go get food." Peggy butted in. "Go catch up with them!"

"Oh right! Sorry." He bolted out of his seat in attempts to catch up to them.

"Oh there you are Alex." Hercules turned around to see his friend. "Thought we almost lost ya!" He playfully punch Alex's shoulder. It wasn't hard. It was barely a tap. But Alex couldn't help flinching backwards, cowardly.

Hercules needs to keep reminding himself that Alex isn't like everyone else. He saw Alex flinch away. He definitely saw. But Alex is different, and has a had a hard life. Granted, so has most of the people in the RC. When Hercules met John, John needed more affection, and loved most physical contact. But Alex is different. And Hercules is trying. He's _trying._

Alex shoved his hands in his pockets. "Almost!" He chuckled nervously, looking up from the ground and biting the inside of his cheek.

"Thought you were following us.." Hercules muttered, not really to anyone in particular, just still thinking about the moment before.

John hooked an arm through Alex's. "Well, today for dinner is chicken noodle soup, mac and cheese, and pizza. And then you know, that salad bar over there. It's mandatory that _every_ school gives the kids a 'healthy' food option, after all."

That was a fairly big dinner compared to what Alex used to have at his home in New York. Most nights, barely eating anything or some nights not eating any food at all.

"Hmm..." Alex hummed as he examined the food that lay in front of him.

Hercules smiled. "Dig in man! I'm hitting the salad bar. Meet you guys back at the table, kay?" And with that and a pat to Alex's shoulder (which he, again, noticeably flinched to), Hercules had disappeared into the swarms of the other children.

John turned back to Alex. "I'm getting salad, too. Gotta get into good shape!" He said, making Lafayette chuckle. "You guys don't need me here, do you?" John was mostly talking to Lafayette. It was a 'hey man, are you comfortable being with this clearly unstable boy and being calm?' type o' thing.

Alex shook his head.

With a smile, Lafayette responded, "Nuh-uh..!"

"Alright. Meet you guys back over there, then?" Without even waiting for a real response, John spun to walk away, his hair whipping his face as he did so.

And then there were two.

"Well, Alexander!" Lafayette clapped his hands once together and rubbed them. "We can _also_ go get salad, if you want. Or, we can stick to the pizza and mac and cheese."

"Umm.." Alex said, looking down to his feet and then to the food the lay in front of him.

Lafayette stood quietly as he examined his new roommates face. He was never good at reading people, but it was a skill he was trying to teach himself, for, it was pretty necessary for making friends.

Alex squinted his eyes. He had never seen so much food in his life. He rarely ate while living with James, and when living with his mother, they didn't have much money for food. Alex didn't take his time to start filling up his plate. He stuck the tip of his tongue out while working on the food, causing Lafayette to chuckling.

"My, my! Someone is mighty hungry today." Lafayette watched Alex's plate become stacked until it couldn't hold anything anymore.

Alex hadn't realized how much food he had until Lafayette spoke up. Alex quickly placed his plate on a nearby table that held silverware.

"Oh shoot." Alex said as he sucked in a sharp breath of air. "I'm sorry."

"For what, mon ami?" Lafayette kindly asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

Frantically, Alex said, "I-I I took too much food. I don't need this much. I _shouldn't_ need this much. I need to go put some back. I'm sorry I just-"

He interrupted himself when Lafayette took a small step closer.

Alex nearly threw his hands to cover his face in defense. "I-I know it's too much. I'm sorry." In a hurry, Alex reached for his plate and handed it to Lafayette. "H-here. Take my food. I don't need it."

"Alexander." Lafayette took another step towards. _Probably not the best idea…_ But what the hell is he doing?

"I can't-"

"Alexander." Lafayette may have raised his voice a little too loud and admittedly regretted it. Alex admittedly shut his mouth. The look Alex had in his eyes was pure terror, shooting around the large room frantically. He needed someone else. There's no way he could stand a chance against Lafayette. Tall, broad shoulders, quite a little bit of muscles Lafayette. Hercules, John, Eliza, someone.

 _Shit._ Lafayette thought. _Where's Hercules when I actually need him?_ Turns out Alex wasn't the only one in need of help.

Lafayette took a big breath and sighed. "Look, Alexander." He blinked slowly. "This food is all you can eat. As crazy as it might sound to you, you can eat as much as you want. There's no reason to apologize. You did nothing wrong."

Alex didn't speak again. He didn't even nod. But, instead stood there.

"Believe me, I'd tell you if you were doing something not acceptable. But, I'm a pretty accepting person. And so is John. And Hercules. And Eliza. Peggy. Angelica. It may not seem like it, but we're here for you." There. That must've been at least a little bit comforting.

A non-verbal response was all that he got from Alex. A slight nod of the head.

"Come on, Alexander. Let's go eat!" Lafayette marched away back to the direction of the table, already worrying about Alex and what the future for them lay ahead.

 **A/N: There isn't really an excuse for why I didn't update for about a year. I'm lazy, and hate my writing. It's cringey and ugly and all this stuff. But mostly it was because I'm lazy and discovered many new tv shows so uhh,,, I started writing again because, well, I've had a lot of time on my hands. Long story short, on September 15th, my father passed away. So, I haven't been able to go to school much, but i HAVE been able to write to try and express myself and my feelings. I know that he loved when I would write, he loved when I was passionate about things. And, I was passionate about writing. But between having a lot of time on my hands, wanting to find a way to express myself and my dad wanting me to be as happy as I can, I'll be back. Doing what I love, y'know? And just hopefully, y'all like it too.?**

 **Anyways! Thanks for reading! I don't really have a schedule for when I update chapters and stuff but all of a sudden (for the past week or so) I've had a burst of creativity, so I have things planned for this story.**

 **If you have any suggestions or anything you want to see in this story, please please pLeAsE comment! It makes my day!**


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